FORT WAYNE — In a bout both sides considered a swing match, Bellmont junior Dewey Melcher headlocked Jeff Clark, scoring one of five Bellmont pins in a 39-31 victory over Carroll Thursday at the Chargers' gym.
Melcher actually trailed 2-0 going into the second period and was on top of Clark, who tried to scramble out but was caught by Melcher, who finally go the trip he wanted and put the match away in 2:48, giving the Braves an impressive 27-13 lead.

FORT WAYNE — In a bout both sides considered a swing match, Bellmont junior Dewey Melcher headlocked Jeff Clark, scoring one of five Bellmont pins in a 39-31 victory over Carroll Thursday at the Chargers' gym.
Melcher actually trailed 2-0 going into the second period and was on top of Clark, who tried to scramble out but was caught by Melcher, who finally go the trip he wanted and put the match away in 2:48, giving the Braves an impressive 27-13 lead.
"Melcher's pin was the big one," praised BHS senior heavyweight Daniel Meyer, who overcame a 4-0 deficit to score a pin in his match as well. "He always amazes me. He wrestles funky but he gets it done in the end."
"This was the toss-up match, and Dewey gets down 2-0 but doesn't panic. It was a huge win for us," stated Bellmont coach Brent Faurote, who is now 23-0 against Carroll.
"That match at 135 cost us. If we get the win there it's a nine-point swing, and that's all we needed," offered veteran Carroll coach Paul Voigt.
Bellmont's pinning ways made the difference as each side scored seven wins. Senior heavyweight Daniel Meyer, who trailed early 4-0, scored a sudden 4:55 pin over Matt McClure. Bobby Keuneke tightened a corkscrew at 119, Blake Adams cradled Beaub Blanchard at 125 and ended up with a tech fall, Brooks Faurote also used a corkscrew to stop Riley Lefever at 140, and unbeaten senior Ryley Hankenson clinched the meet with his 22-second cradle of Jeff Enrieto.
Travis Thatcher started the meet with a major win over Carroll's Gage Andis at 215, but he scored three points in the final five seconds, one on a penalty, to get the extra team point in a 16-7 win.
When Meyer came off of his back to pin Matt McClure, Bellmont had jumped out 10-0. "We wanted extra points out of those two, and we got them," stated Faurote.
"I got a little over-zealous, and ended up in a bad position," admitted Meyer, who fought back to take the lead. He was about to cut McClure, then suddenly jumped on him and got the leverage he needed.
"I was going to cut him to I could get more points, but he stayed on his hands and knees and I just went right for the dump grabbed him and threw him over and stuck him. All those other pins helped a lot. All those extra points made the difference," said Meyer.
Bellmont actually got bonus points in all seven wins.
"It was a big win, but they haven't beaten us for 20 years since we started the conference. It's not like this was a preseason concernn. The only time we talked about it was this week. We want to keep the streak alive, but we started thinking about Carroll Monday," noted Faurote.
"We know its going to be a war come confernece time. With the win here and if we beat Homesteald no matter what happens in the tourney we have the dual portion of the tite.It's going to be great tourney with us and Carroll."
"Just like in so many sports, defense is the key, so you can't give up five pins," said Voigt, whose middle weight wrestlers, Jon Timmerman at 145, Reece Lefever at 152 and Conner Lefever at 160, look like state material.
"We were dominate in those classes by very solid kids, no doubt, but we have to close the gap there," said Faurote, noting the losses by John Mahlan, Andrew Stebing and Will Busse.
The wins put Bellmont at 17--2 overall while Carroll fell to 7-1.
"They won the matches they were favored in, we won the matches we were favored in, and like I said the one swing match was Dewey. He gets the pin in the swing match and we got some other pins. We'll take 39 points against about anybody on our schedule," admitted Faurote.
Hankenson came out as Bellmont led 33-28. "He knew he needed just a win and wasn't going to put himself in a bad position, then he hits the Palmer cradle and it's all over," said Faurote of the 22-second fall.
"(Matt) Birch loses a tough 3-2 match (to Raypole) after that. He had the single-leg but couldn't finish it. That's a match he may be able to reverse later," said the coach.
The Braves host Adams Central on Tuesday.
Bellmont 39, Carroll 31
215-Thatcher (B) m.d. Andis 16-7
285-Meyer (B) p. McClure 4:55
103-Unger (C) p. Richards 2:00
112-Ables (C) m.d. Girod 12-4
119-Keuneke (B) p. Wilmer 1:48
125-Adams (B) t.f. Blanchard 18-3
130-Malcom (C) d. Mahlan 12-7
135-Melcher (B) p. Clark 2:48
140-Faurote (B) p. R. Lefever 3:36
145-Timmerman C) p. Stebing 3:58
152-Rc. Lefever (C) m.d. Busse 18-5
160-C. Lefever (C) t.f. Mahlan 21-6
171-Hankenson (B) p. Enrieto:22
189-Raypole (C) d. Birch 3-2